Substitute Power Supply and Battery Charger for Battery Operated Apparatus

I shall now describe in greater detail two forms of apparatus embodying my invention, referring to the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration of a substitute power supply embodying the features of the first form of the invention.

FIG. 2 is a cross section of the disc circuit element of the FIG. 1 arrangement taken along line II.

FIG. 3 is a diagrammatic illustration of one manner of using the substitute power supply arrangement of FIG. 1.

FIG. 4A is a diagrammatic illustration of a second disc element used in recharging apparatus embodying the first form of the invention.

FIG. 4B is a cross section of the disc of FIG. 4A.

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic illustration of one manner of using the pair of discs of FIGS. 1 and 4A as a charging arrangement for rechargeable batteries.

FIG. 6 is a schematic illustration of a substitute power supply, battery charger embodying the second form of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a cross section of one disc element of FIG. 6, taken along line VII.

FIG. 8 is a cross section of the other disc element of FIG. 6 taken along line VIII.

FIG. 9 is another arrangement of the form of the invention in FIG. 6 using a different style of battery terminal contactors.

FIG. 10 is a cross section of the contactor of FIG. 9 taken along line X.

FIG. 11 is a diagrammatic illustration of one connection of the power supply arrangement of FIG. 6 when used as a substitute power supply.

FIG. 12 is another diagrammatic illustration of the connections to use the arrangement of FIG. 6 as a battery charger.

In each of the drawings, similar references designate the same parts of the apparatus.

Referring to FIG. 1, illustrating the first form of my invention, there is shown schematically a circular disc 1 formed of dielectric material, e.g., plastic, with a notch 2. On the near face or surface of disc 1, a terminal plate 3 is seated in the center as shown in the cross section of FIG. 2, which is taken along the line II--II in FIG. 1. Terminal 3 is also formed to raise above the surface of disc 1 to distinguish from the flat terminal plate 8 seated on the opposite face. In some ways, terminal 3 may be described as shaped similar to the positive terminal on conventional dry batteries used in flash lights, for example. Terminal 8, although generally circular, has a spade shaped lug extending into notch 2 (FIG. 2) to provide the plug portion of a quick disconnect type circuit connection to an external lead, as will be explained later with FIG. 5. Wire leads 5 and 6 are soldered to terminals 3 and 8 at points 9 and 10, respectively. As specifically shown, leads 5 and 6 are fed through a hole 4 in disc 1 to provide a measure of protection against breaking the solder connections. Alternately, terminal plates 3 and 8 may have extension fingers to the edge of the disc at which points leads 5 and 6 are soldered direct without being fed through a hole 4. An example of this construction is shown in FIG. 4A. As another alternate construction, the disc ends of wires 5 and 6 and the solder joints 9 and 10 may be molded into the material forming the disc body. This will hold the leads firmly and prevent breaking the solder joints.

Wires 5 and 6 are connected at their other ends in any conventional manner to the positive (+) and negative (-) output terminals, respectively, of a transformer-rectifier unit 7. The input terminals of unit 7 are connected to the commercial alternating current supply, i.e., nominally 110 volts at 60 Hz. Unit 7 reduces this voltage and converts it to a direct current (DC) output voltage of the required level for the device to be operated. As an example, unit 7 may be a transformer-rectifier apparatus such as used for model railroads.

One manner of using the circuit apparatus of FIGS. 1 and 2 is shown in FIG. 3. The dot-dash box represents the battery compartment of the battery operated device or apparatus, e.g., a toy or game. Within the compartment, block symbols designate two dry battery cells, e.g., of the popular D size, connected in series by the various spring contacts or conductors which engage the battery terminals in a conventional manner. The two battery cells are noted as being dead or exhausted, that is, incapable of sufficient output to operate the apparatus. Disc 1 is shown inserted between the (-) terminal of the right battery cell and the compartment terminal contact connected to the (-) lead of the device operating means and is positioned to aid the battery voltage. In other words, terminal plate 3 is contacting the (-) terminal of the right battery cell while terminal plate 8 contacts the compartment (-) spring contact. Thus the voltage from the external source 7 over leads 5 and 6 adds, in series, to the weak battery output and supplies sufficient energy to operate the device. If the battery compartment is of such shape that the cells are positioned in tandem to complete the series circuit, disc 1 may be inserted between the two cells with terminal plate 3 contacting the (-) plate of one cell and terminal plate 8 contacting the (+) plate or terminal of the other cell.

An arrangement for charging rechargeable battery cells when such are used in the battery operated apparatus/device is shown in FIGS. 4A, 4B, and 5. The disc 11 shown in plan view in FIG. 4A is similar to the basic disc element of FIG. 1. That is, it is made of dielectric material and of a size (diameter and thickness) to fit into the battery compartment between a cell and the spring contact at the end of the compartment. However, only one terminal plate 18 is used, flat and secured to one face as illustrated in the cross section view of FIG. 4B. A wire lead 21 is soldered to plate 18 at point 20. This lead has a length preselected in accordance with the intended use and a jack portion 22 of the quick disconnect type coupler is secured to its other end. This coupler 22 engages the lug on plate 8 of disc 1, FIG. 1, to provide a quick circuit connection from plate 8 to plate 18.

One manner of using discs 1 and 11 to provide a charging arrangement is shown in FIG. 5. It is to be noted that, as specifically shown, wires 5 and 6 from disc 1 are now connected to the (-) and (+) output terminals, respectively, of unit 7, reversed from the polarities of FIG. 1. Again, the dot-dash block represents the battery compartment of the apparatus in which are located two rechargeable battery cells shown in block outline. These cells are connected in series to normally supply operating energy to the device. Disc 1 is inserted between the (-) terminal of the right cell and the associated spring contact terminal of the compartment so that terminal plate 3 contacts the (-) plate of the battery while plate 8 contacts the associated spring contact. Disc 11 is inserted between the (+) terminal of the other cell and the spring contact at the other end of the compartment. Disc 11 is positioned so that plate 18 contacts the battery (+) terminal while the insulated face forces the spring contact away to interrupt the normal battery supply circuit to the device. The lug of plate 8 is inserted into jack 22 of lead 21 so that plates 8 and 18 are inter-connected. Energy from DC source 7 is thus applied to charge the battery cells but no energy is supplied to the device normally operated by the batteries.

In an alternate arrangement to FIG. 5, the usual external source connections of leads 5 and 6 are retained as shown in FIG. 1. Disc 1 is then inserted between the left battery cell and the compartment spring contact, with plate 3 in contact with the (+) battery terminal. Disc 11 is inserted between the right cell and the other compartment spring contact with plate 18 in contact with the (-) battery terminal. Lead 21 is connected as before. The supply circuit to the device is interrupted at the insulated face of disc 11 and charging energy is supplied by source 7 to the batteries in series.

It is also to be noted that if both discs are reversed in the arrangement of FIG. 5, operating energy is supplied to the device and the batteries are eliminated from the circuit. This arrangement may be used with dry type battery cells, if both discs are available, to avoid any crystallization effect or corrosion due to heavy current flow through dead dry cell batteries.

Referring now to FIG. 6, a second form of the invention is illustrated which comprises basically two metallic discs 23 and 24. Each is made of a conductive material, e.g., brass, copper, aluminum. Each disc is circular in form, having a diameter selected to match the battery cells with which it will be used. To fit over the end of a battery of conventional size and shape and hold in position, each disc is formed with lugs, such as reference 25, positioned at about 90.degree. to the outer surface. This fitting over a battery cell is shown more specifically in FIGS. 11 and 12. Each disc is shown as having three such lugs but this is not critical. As shown in the cross section drawing FIG. 7, disc 23 is flat on both surfaces except for the lugs 25. The cross section of disc 24 in FIG. 8 illustrates this disc has a formed portion 26 to fit over the positive (+) terminal on conventional battery cells. Discs 24 and 23 thus represent the positive and negative input discs, respectively, of the supplemental power supply apparatus. For convenience hereinafter, the surface of each disc toward the lugs, i.e., to the left in the cross section drawings, is defined as the inner face. The other surface, i.e., to the right in FIGS. 7 and 8, is designated the outer face.

The discs are connected to the external DC source by wire leads 5 and 6. These are shown as a single pair cord, split at each end to allow individual connections. Spade type terminals are crimped or soldered to the outer ends to provide easy connection to the source output terminals. Each disc has a split portion 27 to hold and retain the corresponding wire lead by gripping the insulation. The actual wire is soldered to the outer face of the disc. Since leads 5 and 6 are connected to the positive and negative discs, respectively, lead 5 will normally be connected to the positive output terminal of the rectifier unit 7 partially shown in FIGS. 11 and 12.

A modified arrangement of this second form of the apparatus is shown in FIG. 9. This specific arrangement is for use with a lantern type battery, which typically have a square block shape with conical, spring-like output terminals. The connectors 29 are shaped as truncated cones (see FIG. 10 cross section) to screw or push onto the battery terminals. This specific arrangement of FIG. 9 is limited to use for charging rechargeable lantern batteries of the type described.

FIG. 11 illustrates the use of this second form (FIG. 6) as a substitute power supply for exhausted dry cells. The spade terminals at the outer ends of leads 5 and 6 are connected to the positive (+) and negative (-) output terminals, respectively, of the rectifier unit 7. This is similar to the rectifier connections for the same leads in FIG. 3. However, in this form, leads 5 and 6 are so connected regardless of the intended use. In the conventionally shown battery compartment, the dry battery cells, connected in series, are physically adjacent to each other. However, this positioning is immaterial as it will become obvious that the same results can be achieved even if the battery cells are positioned in tandem.

Disc 24 is placed over the (+) battery terminal at one end of the series cells. The projection 26 fits over the conventional + battery terminal and thus assures a good connection with the spring type contactor leading to the (+) terminal of the device load. An insulating disc or pad 30 is placed on the inner face of disc 23 before this disc is positioned on the (-) battery terminal. By way of example, this pad may be a circular piece of vinyl electrical insulating tape which adheres to the surface of disc 23. The pad is cut to substantially the same size as the disc surface. As will be seen shortly, it may be positioned to adhere to either face in accordance with the type of operation desired. The spring contactor leading to the (-) terminal of the device load completes the circuit through the outer face of disc 23. The dead battery cells, however, are excluded from the power supply network by the insulated pad 30 interrupting the circuit at the (-) battery terminal. Energy to operate the device load is thus supplied entirely by the rectifier through the circuit network established by discs 23 and 24 and leads 5 and 6.

To convert to a battery charger, insulation pad 30 is moved from the inner to the outer face of the (-) disc 23, as shown in FIG. 12. The (+) disc 24 remains positioned as described for FIG. 11. Disc 23 is also positioned as before, but now its inner face makes contact with the (-) terminal of the battery cell. The contactor spring leading to the device load now bears against pad 30. The load circuit is therefore interrupted and no operating energy is supplied. A circuit does exist from the (+) output terminal of rectifier 7 through lead 5, disc 24, the battery cells in series from (+) to (-) terminals, disc 23, and lead 6 to the (-) terminal of the rectifier. Charging energy is thus supplied to the rechargeable battery cells.

The arrangement of my invention thus provides, in a first instance, a substitute power supply for battery operated apparatus or devices. Each form is of simple construction, easy to use, and provides economy in operating the device. Replacement of exhausted dry cells, an inconvenience and costly, is at least greatly reduced if not eliminated. In the second instance, the arrangements of the invention provide charging apparatus for rechargeable cells in a battery operated device. This apparatus is also simple to use, economical to make, and effective and efficient in operation.

Although I have herein shown and described but two forms of the substitute power supply and battery charger of my invention, it is to be understood that various changes and modifications within the scope of the appended claims may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of my invention.